Not only did she digitize both items, but she also created a new digital-only document that incorporates letters, photographs, and newspaper articles along with entries from the Minutes Book to tell the story of sculptor Charles Henry Niehaus and his quest to create the park’s sculpture: Charles Henry Niehaus and the Forrest Monument.

Before cameras and photographers, there were skilled artists who were tasked with providing detailed images to accompany the news. And since photographs of Memphis in the 19th century are fairly rare, we rely on these sketches and drawings to tell us about what Memphis looked like in its early history.